


Something to Prove

by Measured_Words



Category: Books of the Raksura - Martha Wells
Genre: M/M, Rivalry, The Edge of Worlds (Book), The Edge of the Worlds (Book), dominance issues, hurt/comfort if you squint, injuries, posturing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:33:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7333303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured_Words/pseuds/Measured_Words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post "The Edge of Worlds": River's been hurt trying to defend Moon.  Moon isn't sure what to make of that.  He also doesn't want to deal with everyone else's politics, so he may as well check on River - No one else is going to do it.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Moon told himself that for now it was better to worry about the Raksuran lives they could definitely help, and that’s why he’d been checking in regularly to see how River was doing.  He wasn’t really expecting him to be awake, which was probably the only reason the suspicious glare caught him off guard when he opened the door to the cabin.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Something to Prove

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bomberqueen17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bomberqueen17/gifts).



> Seriously though, who *doesn't* want that?

The ships were underway. Everyone was getting used to each other – the Kish-Jandarans and the Golden Islanders, and of course the new Raksura from Opal Night. Moon was content to let others worry about the politics of it all. He had enough to worry about with the hostages the Hians had taken, as well as the mysterious weapon the Forerunners, or Fortress Builders, or whoever, had left in the ancient city. Then there were the injured. Several of Kallam’s people were still recovering from being poisoned, though most of the Raksura had by this point shaken off the effects. Ironically, River was the only one still not in top shape, and he’d never been poisoned in the first place. 

No – River’d just had half his guts ripped out trying to defend Moon from a berserked half-Fell queen.

Moon still wasn’t sure what to think about it. It had been a brave and stupid thing to do. Half of him was convinced it hadn’t even been necessary – she’d seemed willing enough to talk until Moon had caught her out in too many lies, but maybe he could have kept her going a little bit longer. Being saved by his birth queen might have been slightly less...well….whatever it was he felt.

Lithe had put River in a healing sleep, but she'd had others to look after as well, and her main focus had been on helping spell the moss that was leading them towards the hostages. Or at least, Moon couldn’t help thinking cynically, towards the Hian ship. There was no guarantee that by the time they caught up Merit, Bramble, and Delin would still be onboard. Lithe’s scrying suggested they were still alive so far, but Moon’s optimism about the situation was limited. The Hians were crazy and obsessed and dangerous – they’d already shown they didn’t care about Raksuran lives, and Moon knew there were things out there that were worse than death.

Moon told himself that for now it was better to worry about the Raksuran lives they could definitely help, and that’s why he’d been checking in regularly to see how River was doing. He wasn’t really expecting him to be awake, which was probably the only reason the suspicious glare caught him off guard when he opened the door to the cabin.

"Oh, it's you," River said, leaning back a little on the bench, spines flicking in what could be pain, or general agitation, or just typical River obnoxiousness.

"Yeah, great to see you’re awake." Moon rolled his eyes and turned to go, but River sat up again.

"Wait!"

Moon waited.

"We didn’t get eaten by the Fell. How did you pull that one off?" Somehow he managed to make it sound like an accusation.

"I didn't pull anything off," Moon answered, reminding himself that River was still hurt, and probably still a little out of it from the healing sleep, so there really wasn't any point in baring his teeth. He tried being patient instead. "Opal Night showed up with Delin's family on their flying boat, and scared them off."

"Opal Night?"

"Their mentors were having the same visions ours did, so they followed us." That was the short version, anyway. "You can thank Lithe later," Moon added pointedly.

River nodded and looked away. Moon was almost willing to let it go, except... River had saved his life, thrown himself at the half-Fell queen, and done so thinking that the Hians had abducted their only mentor.

"You really weren't expecting that, were you? What did you think would happen?"

River just glared in response, until Moon did bare his teeth. River bared his back reflexively, but his spines flattened. Moon was half surprised he didn't shift back to groundling...and half relieved as well. River might be awake, but he was still hurt enough that he shouldn't be changing forms. Eventually, the warrior gave in with a hiss, and answered. "I don't know, you always manage something."

"No, I don't," Moon said, because it was true and he couldn't stop himself. "But even if I did – it wasn't something you were expecting to be part of, was it?" River acting without thinking he could handle. River deciding to get himself killed because he thought Moon would somehow manage to scare off an entire Fell flight when he could barely stand, let alone shift, and with only Rorra for support, was a whole other level of crazy. 

River snorted. "It wasn't like I planned it. I needed an opening, but it wouldn't have done any good to let her kill you."

"But letting her kill you was totally fine? Or did you just think you could handle it?" Moon growled. Talking to River was impossible. No wonder Balm had given up even pretending to try.

"What – do you want me to say it?" River forced himself to stand up, bracing against the wall. He wasn't as large as Moon, but he was tall for a warrior, and the two of them took up most of the space in the cabin. "You're more important than I am. Happy?"

Moon couldn't say he was surprised that things had taken a confrontational turn – he just wasn't exactly sure how it had happened. He wasn't about to back down from it either. It felt good to have a problem he knew he could beat, especially while River was still too hurt for things to turn seriously physical. Instead he flexed his wings, taking up even more of the increasingly cramped space. "You're never going to get over that, are you."

River hissed again. "You have no idea... You must like being clueless."

"Right," said Moon, patience for posturing rapidly waning. He grabbed River's wrist, intending to force him to sit back down. "You're so enlightened."

River tried to resist, but he didn't quite have the strength at the moment. So instead he pulled Moon down with him. "What would you do," he hissed, "if Jade set you aside." And then he bit Moon on the neck.

It was a lot to process all at once, which is maybe why the bite seemed to bypass Moon's brain and transmit itself directly to other parts. He should have shoved River off. He grabbed him by the shoulders, claws raking against scales, but the shove didn't come right away.

"You can't fuck your way back to the top," Moon growled. It wasn't what he would do – he hadn't seriously contemplated the possibility of Jade turning him away since she'd gotten pregnant, but he'd given it a lot of thought in the past. He always figured he'd have left Indigo Cloud, but they both knew that wouldn't have been a viable answer for River.

"You're not the top."

"Close as you're going to get." 

Moon knew that he should stop this – River wasn't thinking straight. It wasn't going to achieve anything. It was just a fight in a different arena... But maybe this was one they could both win, and they could both use a victory right about now.

Moon had never had sex except in groundling form before Jade, and she was still his only experience. Raksuran bodies weren't made to show any vulnerabilities, and it made everything rougher. But it couldn’t have worked any other way between him and River – they were already exposing enough. The furniture wasn't built for what they got up to, but they managed not to break anything – or the boat. Moon was as gentle as he could afford to be, but he couldn't say River didn't have a few more scratches by the time they'd finished. He had a few himself – just enough to give the pleasant ache of release an accompanying sharp twinge.

Moon disentangled himself quickly. He wasn't interested in intimacy, and he didn't think River was either. He still wasn't really sure what River had been after, or if he'd gotten it, and Moon hoped he hadn't made some kind of faux pas. Surely no one would start counting River as one of his favourites, the way they had with Chime... But it might not be so bad if the other warriors stopped ostracizing him. Still, he glowered. "This doesn't change anything, you know. You’re still an asshole."

River glowered back, propping himself up on the bench. "Yeah well – so are you."

Moon shrugged, thinking now about whether he was going to have to explain anything to Jade or, possibly worse, Chime. "I can live with that."

**Author's Note:**

> Now you have to imaging Jade rolling her eyes as she drags an angry hissing Chime away from the door while all the groundlings make terrified faces and Malachite and Stone loom around looking Totally Unimpressed.
> 
> Poor Kalam.


End file.
